Vegetable strip cutter



April 11, 1944. e. w. WATTS 2,346,282

VEGETABLE STRIP CUTTER Filed March 6-, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 #rromvzm.

April 11, 1944. 5, w, -rs 2,346,282

VEGETABLE STRIP CUTTER Filed March 6, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 In """n h'l'l l l l'l'l l'll'l l Trap/v90;

April 11, 1944. c; w WATTS I 2,346,282

VEGETABLE STRIP CUTTER Filed March 6, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3- /Z 3 I 3 6I 55 HUGHES g9 3O @UDEEE @EEUUE EUEHDE Y 55 36 flrramyau Patented Apr.11, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VEGETABLE STRIP CUTTER George W.Watts, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application March 6, 1942, Serial No. 433,591

2 Claims.

This invention relates to means for cutting v getables, such aspotatoes, into sections. While the device may be employed for sectioningturnips, carrots, and in fact any like vegetable of firm nature, theinvention will be described in reference to the cutting of potatoesparticularly for use in french frying and the like. In any event theinvention is adapted for use in forcin such vegetables across knives toproduce regular sections of those vegetables in accordance with thespacing apart and arrangement of the knives.

While I am aware of the fact that devices have been developed andemployed for the cutting of potatoes into elongated sections, difiicultyhas been encountered with such devices that have come to my attention inthat an unwarranted amount of power has been required to force thepotato across and between the knives; too much complication existed;knives could not be readily removed for sharpening or replacement; thestructure could not be kept in a clean condition; and such structuresdid not lend themselves to both small and quantity production in thesame structure.

By means of my invention, the cutting knives are so arranged andsupported one in reference to the other that the knives may yield inrelation to each other to permit easy passage of the potato sectionstherebetween to the end that a minimum amount of pressure is required tobe applied to the potato to force it across the cutting knives. Moreoveranother particularly important advantage of the invention resides in theknife mounting means whereby the knives may be removed as a unit fromthe supporting structure for cleaning purpose and, importantly, topermit knife positioning, adjusting, and tensioning of those knives.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention arising from theparticular combinations set forth in the appended claims, includingthose advantages of a more facile, economic and efficient operation incomparison to the heretofore known structures, will become apparent tothose versed in the art in the following description of one particularform of th invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a structure embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2, a view in end elevation;

Fig. 3, a view in vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a view in vertical section on the line 4-4 in Fig. l;

Fig. 5, a view in vertical section on the line 55 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6, a view in top plan elevation of the struc-1 ture;

Fig. '7, a view on an enlarged scale in horizontal-transverse section onthe line 'l'l in Fig. l; and

Fig. 8, a view in horizontal transverse section on' the line 8-8 in Fig.1.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews in the drawings.

Upon any suitable frame or base, herein shown as a pair of side rails l0and II tied together in spaced apart relation by end plates I 2 and 13spaced one from the other along these rails to leave an openingtherebetween, and having upturned pedestals l4 and I5 respectively attheir opposing ends, is detachably mounted a knife carrier block I6.

This carrier block I6 is formed preferably out of metal to have anopening I! therethrough,.

herein shown as rectangular in shape as defined by opposing verticallydisposed walls. Surrounding the block I6 is a laterally extending flangel8, this flange being located substantially centrally of the side wallsof the block and extends in a continuous manner from all four wallsthereof. This flange I8 is received within opposing horizontallydisposed slots 19 and 20 provided in the path of the upper part of theblock wall which is above the flange 18. The block l6 may be enteredwithin the slots l9 and 20 by this projecting flange l8 and pushedbetween the pedestals until the block wall strikes this strap 2|.

A plurality of slots are provided across and entering from the top edgesof those parts of the end walls of the block I6 which are above theflange l8, five of such slots being shown in each wall, Fig. 7, in thepresent example of the invention. Knives 22, sharp edge uppermost, are

dropped into the respective slots of these opposing walls. Each knife isprovided with a hole therethrough in its end portions. A pin 23 isinserted through the holes of the knives on the outside of one of theblock walls, the left-hand side as viewed in Fig. 7. A pin 24 isinserted .through all of the holes in the other ends of the knivesoutside of the right-hand wall of the block. The

holes in each knife are so located, one in reference to the other, thatthese pins 23 and 24, when carried through the knife holes, permitslight longitudinal movement of the knives, In order to prevent suchmovement and apply tension to each individual knife 22, a staple 25having wedgeshape legs is placed over each knife" 22 to straddle it andto extend downwardly along the outer face of the right-hand wall,between that face and the pin 24. ,Each staple 25 is driven downwardlytending to force that portion ofthe pin 24 in contact therewithoutwardly and thereby tending to cause the particular knife 22 to bestreched. The I pin 23, of course, resists movement of the knife 22 byforming an abutment against theouter face of the left-hand wall of theblock |6. In order that each knife 22 may be individually fixed inposition and tensioned as just described, the pin 24 is made to beflexible so that it may bend or yield between the knives 22 to permitthe particular knife staple 25 to exert its own individual wedgingaction without interfering with that action of the nextadjacent Staple,vIn'the form herein shown, the pin 24 is made out of metal and isprovided with a notch 26 between each of the knives 22 so that while thepin consists of one continuous length, it is provided with weakenedzones in which the pin may bend under the localized wedging action of anindividual staple 25.

In the same manner opposing aligned slots are provided across the frontand back walls of the block I6 below the flange I8 and'a plurality ofknives 21 are positioned and secured acrossthe opening through the blockWin the same manner exactly as above described in reference to theknives 22. It is to be noted, however, that the knives'2l are turned tohave their cutting edges upwardly, Fig. 7, or in other words, theseedges are directed towards the closed ends of the slots. The depth ofthe slots for the two sets of knives 22 and Ham made to be such that thecutting edges of the lower knives 21 are spaced below the under backedges of the upper knives 22 a distance substantially equal to that ofthe thickness of the flange I8. In this regard it is to be noted thatthere is no interconnection or contact between the upper and lower setsof these knives. Furthermore in the particular locations of the upperand lower slots in each-of the respective walls of the block IS theassembled block I6 presents, as viewed from directly above, Fig. 7,rectangular openings between the two sets of knives. The assembling ofthese knives 22 and 21 is, of course, preferably performed with theblock I6 removed from engagement with the pedestals I4 and I5 so thataccess may readilyv be had to all sides of the carrier block to permitthe fixing in position of the knives thereon,

Extending upwardly from the plates I2 and I3 just outside of thepedestals I4 and I5 are posts 28 and 29 respectively fixed in positionandin vertical alignment, Surrounding each of these posts is a coiledspring 30. A crosshead 3| is suitably bored through to receive therespective posts 28 and 29 slidingly therethrough near its end.portions. This crosshead 3| normally drops by gravity to'rest againstthe upper ends of the springs 30 surrounding the posts 28 and 29. Inorder to promote stability, the upper ends of the posts 28 and 29 areherein shown as interconnected'by a bar 32.

Rockably fixed to either one of these plates I2 and I3, herein shown asto the plate I 2, are a pair of spaced apart links Hand 34. The upperends of these links are pivotally connected respectively to the ends ofthe lever bars 35 and 36 respectively, these bars being rockably engagedby fulcrum bolts 3! and 38 extending from the respective sides of thecrosshead 3|. From these fulcrum bolts 31 and 38 the lever bars extendbeyond the crosshead 3| and are then bent inwardly one toward the otherto terminate in an operating handle 39.

The central portion of the crosshead 3| is provided with an openingwithin which a ram block 40 is detachably received, This block 40 has anupper portion shaped to fit slidingly within the correspondingly shapedopening within the crosshead 3I and is there retained by any suitablemeans, herein shown as by a latch button 4| which is rotatably attachedto the top side of the block 40 to permit end portions of the button tobe swung around over the top edges of the parts of the crosshead 3|extending along each side of the block 40. To limit upward travel of theblock 49 in reference to the crosshead 3|, the block 40 is provided withan outturned foot 42 on each side which comes up into abutment with theunder sides of the crosshead 3| appearing on the front and back sidesthereof,

The'block 40 is provided with a plurality of kerfs in alignment with theknives 22 and 21 when the block 40 is positioned in the crosshead 3| asabove described. The kerfs 43 in alignment with the knives 22 are cutsufficiently deep to permit the crossing kerfs 44 to receive the knives21 therein. These kerfs are so cut that when the handle '39 is pusheddownwardly in opposition to the springs 30 against the crosshead 3|, theblock 40 may be carried on down within the knife carrier block I6 topermit the under face of the block 40 to come at least to the underedges of the knives 21.

To operate the device, a potato (peeled if desired) is placed upon theknives 22 and held between the thumb and fingers of one hand of theoperator while the other hand bears down on the handle 39 to have theblock 4|] engage the potato, whereupon the operator removes his handholding the potato and pushes on downwardly on the handle 39 to push thepotato on down through both sets of knives with the block 49 followingthrough thereafter to cause the potato sections to fall clear and freefrom the knives. The cut sections obviously will be rectangular incross-section and may be caught by a vessel placed between the rails I9and II, or the device may be placed over a vessel to allow the cutsections to fall between those side rails directly into the vessel. Thesections so cut will obviously be rectangular in cross-section. Thedimensions of these potato sections may, of course, be varied bypositioning the knives in different spaced apart relations in thecarrier block I6.

In any event, the handle 39 requires relatively little effort in forcingit downwardly since the knife blades 22 and 21 may yield slightlylatorally in each set and therefore the potato sections being out do nottend to wedge or jam between the knives. The cutting of the potato is,of course, initially started by the upper set of knives 22 which initself facilitates the operation greatly.

Following the cutting of the required amount of potatoes, the knifecarrier block It may be pulled laterally outwardly from the device to becleaned, and also the block 49 if desired may be quickly detached fromthe supporting head 4| by simply turning the button head to some suchposition as indicated by the dash line position in Fig. 6. The block 40may be made out of any desirable material, hard maple being oneparticular material that is suitable.

It is therefore to be seen that I have provided a very simple devicethat is operable with a minimum amount of labor and that is soconstructed that it may be kept clean with a minimum amount of effort.Moreover the entire device occupies but small space. Therefore, while Ihave shown and described the invention in the one particular form inmore or less minute detail, it is obvious that structural changes may beemployed, such as forming the various parts out of pressed steel or thelike, carrying the knife carrier directly between the rails and Hinstead of at an elevation thereabove, all without departing from thespirit of the invention ,to the end that I do not desire to be limitedto that precise form beyond the limitations as may be imposed by thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cutting vegetables into strips comprising a pluralityof spaced apart knives; a second set of spaced apart knives locatedbelow and removed from contact with knives of the first set, the knivesin one set having their cutting edges directed toward the knives of theother set but in cross relation thereto; knife holding means formed toreceive said knives individ ually; and means for placing the knivesunder longitudinal tension; said holding means consisting of a box-likemember formed by opposing side walls to define an opening therebetweenand through the member, said side walls being provided with slotstherethrough, through which slots end portions of said knives are passedto have the knives extend across said opening; stop means engaging endportions of said knives outside of said walls; and said tensioning meanscomprising wedge members entered between said stop means and the outerfaces of said walls; said wedge members being staples individuallystraddling the knives.

2. Apparatus for cutting vegetables into strips comprising a pluralityof spaced apart knives; a second set of spaced apart knives locatedbelow and removed from contact with knives of the first set, the knivesin one set having their cutting edges directed toward the knives of theother set but in crossed relation thereto; knife holding means formed toreceive said knives individually; and means for placing each of theknives individually under longitudinal tension; said holding meansconsisting of a box-like member formed by opposing side walls to definean opening therebetween and through the member, said side walls beingprovided with slots therethrough, through which slots end portions ofsaid knives are passed to have the knives extend across said opening;stop means engaging end portions of said knives outside of said walls:and said tensioning means comprising a wedge member entered between saidstop means at its engagement with each knife and the outer faces of saidwalls; said stop means consisting of a removable continuous pin memberextending through holes in said knife end portions; said pin memberengaged by said wedge members being of that nature to permit deformationbetween knives whereby each knife may be individually tensioned, thewedge engaged pin member having reduced cross-sectional area portionsbetween adjacent knives.

GEORGE W. WATTS.

